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I'm not really concerned personally. The one thing the 49ers organization does well is negotiating contracts with players. We've never really had an issue with that. A the last several seasons. And our rookies are even on time and usually signed before training camp begins. I think the last issue we had was with Mike Rumph when he held out of training camp as a rookie.

Ever since we got rid of that clown Terry Donahue and gotten ourselves out of salary cap hell, things haven't been too bad.

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i remember the Ravens were really high on Staley, but it all ended up well.
This is probably the first time ive seen a young player get a big money extension so soon after his initial contract. I can see both good and bad coming from this, but you cant complain about locking up a cornerstone for a long time.

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* * *UPDATE II: The 49ers had approximately $25 million in cap space when the day began. They wisely worked the extension with Staley to eat into that figure. To lessen the deal's impact on the future, Staley's cap figure this year rises from $1.42 million to $11.6 million. The deal is very similar to what the 49ers did in 2007 with Nate Clements when they gave him a $10M roster bonus that counted immediaely against that year's cap.

Another Smart move like they did with Clements, his future cap figures will be VERY reasonable as are Clements.

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* * *UPDATE II: The 49ers had approximately $25 million in cap space when the day began. They wisely worked the extension with Staley to eat into that figure. To lessen the deal's impact on the future, Staley's cap figure this year rises from $1.42 million to $11.6 million. The deal is very similar to what the 49ers did in 2007 with Nate Clements when they gave him a $10M roster bonus that counted immediaely against that year's cap.

Another Smart move like they did with Clements, his future cap figures will be VERY reasonable as are Clements.

now that is a smart move, rather to let the cap just go to waste, just fill it up

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The Joe Staley contract extension had been in the works for several months. Today, I learned more details after communicating with a league source with knowledge of the deal, which was signed Thursday.

Staley's six-year extension, through the 2017 season, includes $40 million of "new money." The contract includes $16 million guaranteed. The total package can fluctuate $3 million up ($43 million) or $3 million down ($37 million), depending on Staley's performance and whether he remains healthy.

Some of the other details of the contract are interesting. Staley, according to the source, will not receive a signing bonus. Signing bonuses are prorated for the life of a contract for salary-cap purposes. Instead, Staley will receive two roster bonuses, which count immediately against that year's cap.

The reason the 49ers would structure the deal in that way is because they have an abundance of salary-cap space. The 49ers were approximately $25 million under the cap before the Staley extension. Staley's 2009 cap figure, with this new deal, rises from $1.42 million to $11.6 million.

Staley is signed for nine more seasons. A lot of times when a player gets a big paycheck early in the contract, he grows frustrated that the yearly salaries are not as high on the back end. In recent years, there have been several Philadelphia Eagles who grew frustrated with back ends of their long-term deals, including Brian Westbrook, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard.

It can reasonably be assumed that the 49ers took measures to avoid that kind of potential future discontent with Staley. (Chief negotiator Paraag Marathe declined comment through a club spokesman.)

All of Staley's bonus money is heavily deferred. Although the guaranteed bonus money will count immediately against the cap, Staley will keep getting checks for a long time. Because he will continue to receive that money through the years, perhaps there will be less reason for Staley to be discontent with his yearly income.

"I'm excited about my deal, and I'm going to play that contract," Staley said. 'Any of that is way too far down the line to ever think about. I think it's a fair value for myself, and I look forward to playing football."